Criminology Commons^™

Live Fast, Die Young : Anticipated Early Death And Adolescent Violence And Gang Involvement, Arna Leigh Carlock

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Strategies employed by criminal justice agencies to reduce offending often focus on deterrence, with policies relying on the threat of punishment to discourage individuals from crime. However, such strategies will fail if individuals do not fear these consequences, or when potential rewards of offending outweigh the risks. According to life history theory, adolescents with a dangerous or unpredictable childhood environment discount the future and engage in risky behaviors because they have little to lose. Many adolescents embody this “live fast, die young” mentality, particularly those already at risk of delinquency due to other factors. The scientific literature refers to this …

Work-Family Structures And Cross-National Rates Of Women's Offending, Samantha Applin

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation examines women’s offending from a cross-national perspective, using a theoretical lens that integrates insights from feminist and criminological scholarship. The analysis is based on a pooled cross-sectional time-series design, assessing data from 32 European countries for five time points between 1995 and 2010. The purpose of the dissertation is to determine how the effects of work-family and gender indicators are moderated by women’s labor force participation when it comes to predicting women’s theft and homicide. Inclusion of men’s offending helps discern the extent to which the effects of the predictors are specific to the illegitimate behaviors of women, …

Prisons And Power : Carceral Coloniality In Hybrid Post-Neoliberal Venezuela, Cory Fischer-Hoffman

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation examines contemporary Venezuela’s dual prison system--in which half of the prison population is incarcerated in internally controlled prisons run by armed inmates, and the other half are locked up in the Bolivarian Government’s restricted “New Regime” prisons. The Venezuelan state formation is conceptualized as ‘hybrid post-neoliberal,’ demonstrating how rationalities of a liberal rentier state and neoliberalism, combined with anti-neoliberal logics all act together in competing yet co-existing ways in the post-neoliberal era, which was initiated by the 1999 Bolivarian Revolution. The central question examines the “work” of the prison in the (re)production of power relations and how policies, …

Terrorist Ideology And Behavior : An Examination Of The Behavior Of Known And Unknown Perpetrators, Rose Bellandi

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The terrorist decision-making process is the key component of understanding the types of attacks terrorists execute, and the group’s ideology is the goal-orientation portion of that rational decision-making process. Terrorist group ideology determines a number of aspects of the decision-making process that expand or limit the targets groups will attack and the tactics they will use to achieve their larger ideological goals. These aspects include: a group’s long-term goals, short-term objectives, an attack’s purpose, the audience, the group’s constituency, its enemies, and its message. Terrorism is a tactic of asymmetrical warfare and a unique form of violent crime. Acts of …

Criminal Specialization In The Criminal Justice Context, Shi Yan

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The dissertation consists of two studies. Study 1 examines how criminal specialization predicts the sentencing outcomes. Theories of sentencing have pointed out the association between the sentence and the assessment of the defendant’s risk and culpability, and one of the most important indicators of an individual’s risk is his or her criminal records. Most quantitative studies of sentencing today take criminal records into consideration by controlling for the number of prior criminal justice contacts, and overlook the nature of the prior crimes. The concept criminal specialization refers to the tendency for an individual to repeat the same or a set …

Examining Law Enforcement Analysis And Intelligence Capabilities : A Case Study Of Urban Policing, Shelagh Dorn

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Extant research, concerning police use of intelligence analysis, hypothesizes that police culture and information-sharing partnerships may affect outputs of intelligence analysis. Previous efforts have provided overviews of criminal intelligence analysis, without examining organizational and structural factors which might affect the genesis and use of intelligence and crime analysis. Examining the role and impact of both analysis and information sharing in law enforcement has been largely absent, and based on current research, it is difficult to determine what accounts for law enforcement variation in the knowledge, use, and demand for crime and intelligence analysis. Ashton Police Department’s (APD) Information Coordination Unit …

Subnational Predictors Of Racially Motivated Crime : A Cross-National Multilevel Analysis, Sylwia Janina Piatkowska

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The present study examines the effects of sub-national correlates on the changing rates of racially motivated crime across different regions and counties in seven European countries between 1996 and 2013. Using pooled cross-sectional time-series data on officially recorded racist crimes, I examine whether the regional and county levels of racially motivated crime in these countries’ subnational jurisdictions have been influenced over time by the size of the foreign-born population, increased immigration, and the economic conditions. In developing hypotheses about the effects of these factors, I draw primarily upon the theories of intergroup crime and prejudice.

An Empirical Research Agenda For The Forensic Sciences, Jonathan J. Koehler, John B. Meixner Jr.

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

After the National Academy of Sciences issued a stunning report in 2009 on the unscientific state of many forensic science subfields, forensic science has undergone internal and external scrutiny that it had managed to avoid for decades. Although some reform efforts are underway, forensic science writ large has yet to embrace and settle upon an empirical research agenda that addresses knowledge gaps pertaining to the reliability of its methods. Our paper addresses this problem by proposing a preliminary set of fourteen empirical studies for the forensic sciences. Following a brief discussion of the courtroom treatment of forensic science evidence, we …

The Exercise Of Power In Prison Organizations And Implications For Legitimacy, John Wooldredge, Benjamin Steiner

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

Extrapolating from Bottoms and Tankebe’s framework for a social scientific understanding of “legitimacy,” we argue that differences in how correctional officers exercise “power” over prisoners can potentially impact their rightful claims to legitimate authority. Given the implications of this argument for the “cultivation” of legitimacy (as discussed by Weber), the study described here focused on (a) individual and prison level effects on the degree to which officers generally rely on different power bases when exercising their authority, and (b) whether more or less reliance on different power bases at the facility level impacts prisoners’ general perceptions of officers as legitimate …

Small Cells, Big Problems: The Increasing Precision Of Cell Site Location Information And The Need For Fourth Amendment Protections, Robert M. Bloom, William T. Clark

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

The past fifty years has witnessed an evolution in technology advancement in police surveillance. Today, one of the essential tools of police surveillance is something most Americans carry with them in their pockets every day, the cell phone. Cell phones not only contain a huge repository of personal data, they also provide continuous surveillance of a person’s movement known as cell site location information (CSLI).

In 1986, Congress sought to provide some privacy protections to CSLI in the Stored Communication Act. Although this solution may have struck the proper balance in an age when cell phones were a mere novelty …

Recidivism And Time Served In Prison, Daniel P. Mears, Joshua C. Cochran, William D. Bales, Avinash S. Bhati

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

A justification for lengthier stays in prison stems from the belief that spending more time in prison reduces recidivism. Extant studies, however, have provided limited evidence for that belief and, indeed, suggest the effect of time served may be minimal. Few studies have employed rigorous methodological approaches, examined time spans of more than one to two years, or investigated the potential for the relationship between recidivism and time served to be curvilinear. Drawing on prior scholarship, this paper identifies three sets of hypotheses about the functional form of the time served and recidivism relationship. Using generalized propensity score analysis to …

Fulfilling Daubert's Gatekeeping Mandate Through Court-Appointed Experts, Stephanie Domitrovich

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

No abstract provided.

Looking Backwards At Old Cases: When Science Moves Forward, Jules Epstein

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

Forensic evidence—be it in the form of science-derived analyses such as DNA profiling or drug identification, or in more subjective analyses such as pattern or impression [latent print, handwriting, firearms] examinations—is prevalent and often critical in criminal prosecutions. Yet, while the criminal court processes prize finality of verdicts, science evolves and often proves that earlier analyses were inadequate or plainly wrong. This article examines the tension between those two concerns by focusing on the 2015 decision of the United States Supreme Court in Maryland v. Kulbicki, addresses the inadequacies of the Court’s analysis, and suggests some factors for judges confronted …

Sleuthing Scientific Evidence Information On The Internet, Carol Henderson, Diana Botluk

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

No abstract provided.

The Alleged “Ferguson Effect” And Police Willingness To Engage In Community Partnership, Scott E. Wolfe, Justin Nix

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

In response to increasing violent crime rates in several U.S. cities over the past year, some have pointed the finger of blame at de-policing, a result of the so-called “Ferguson Effect.” Although the Ferguson Effect on crime rates remains an open question, there may also be a Ferguson Effect on other aspects of police officers’ jobs, such as willingness to partner with community members. This study used data from a cross-sectional survey of 567 deputies at an agency in the southeastern U.S. to accomplish 2 objectives: (a) to determine whether the Ferguson Effect is associated with de-policing in the form …

How Cognitive Genetic Factors Influence Fertility Outcomes: A Mediational Sem Analysis, Michael A. Woodley Of Menie, Joesph A. Schwartz, Kevin M. Beaver

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Utilizing a newly released cognitive Polygenic Score (PGS) from Wave IV of Add Health (n = 1,886), structural equation models (SEMs) examining the relationship between PGS and fertility (which is approximately 50% complete in the present sample), employing measures of verbal IQ and educational attainment as potential mediators, were estimated. The results of indirect pathway models revealed that verbal IQ mediates the positive relationship between PGS and educational attainment, and educational attainment in turn mediates the negative relationship between verbal IQ and a latent fertility measure. The direct path from PGS to fertility was non-significant. The model was robust to …

Exploring The Defensive Actions Of Drug Sellers In Open-Air Markets: A Systematic Social Observation., Eric Piza, Victoria A. Sytsma

Publications and Research

Objectives: The current study contributes to the literature through a systematic social observation of the defensive actions of drug sellers within open-air retail markets. The study expands upon previous literature by incorporating a novel data collection and coding method.

Methods: Video footage of narcotics transactions was extracted from the closed-circuit television (CCTV) system of the Newark, NJ Police Department. Researchers transcribed and coded the footage to measure the frequency of defensive actions incorporated by drug sellers. Fisher’s exact tests measured whether the frequency of each defensive action significantly differed across geographic setting or time of day.

Results: The frequency of …

Vulnerability And Exposure To Crime: Applying Risk Terrain Modeling To The Study Of Assault In Chicago., Leslie W. Kennedy, Joel M. Caplan, Eric L. Piza, Henri Buccine-Schraeder

Publications and Research

Prior research has applied risk assessment and spatial analysis techniques to the study of violence. This paper builds on those results, tying the practical outcomes of spatial risk analysis methods to broader spatial issues on the articulation of risky places for aggravated assault. We begin by conceptualizing key relationships, addressing the effects of environmental factors on creating distinct, identifiable areas that are conducive to crime. Propositions of the theory of risky places are posed and then empirically tested using a GIS based program, RTMDx, on aggravated assault data in an urban area. Given the current thinking about crime vulnerability based …

"Get Tough On Juvenile Criminals": An Assessment Of Punitiveness And Punitive Attitudes, Richard Charles Gehrke

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This quantitative study surveyed college students (n=111), currently attending a community college in northeastern Minnesota, regarding whether juveniles should receive the same due process rights as adults, what the primary goal of the juvenile justice system should be, whether juveniles charged with serious offenses should be tried as adults, and whether juveniles convicted of committing a serious offense should be sentenced as adults. Utilizing two competing theoretical frameworks, the researcher hypothesized that students who self-identify with a conservative political ideology would be more punitive than students who self-identify with a liberal political ideology. The researcher's second hypothesis was that students …

Law Enforcement Leadership Training Strategies, Will O'Neill

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Senior law enforcement leaders are looking for leadership training strategies to develop future law enforcement leaders. The purpose of this single case study was to explore U.S. law enforcement leaders' training strategies to develop future leaders. The sample was comprised of 18 senior Northern Virginia executive law enforcement leaders who have leadership development strategies currently in use. The conceptual framework for this study was human capital theory. The data collection process included semistructured interviews, a review of training documentation, and direct observation related to leadership development. Based on methodological triangulation of the data sources and analysis of the data, 3 …

Human Trafficking: The Health Of Men Forced Into Labor Trafficking In The United States, Christina Omole

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Human trafficking is a criminal act that occurs globally. It affects both women and men, but most studies have focused on female victims; few have explored trafficked men or their related health issues. Though there are many forms of trafficking, it is believed that most male victims are trafficked as forced labor. Using gender schema theory as a framework, this quantitative study examined archival data to identify the types of trafficking men are subjected to, their health ailments, and how these differ from the health ailments of trafficked women. Archival data from 124 individuals subjected to human trafficking in Florida …

Federal Civil Rights Litigation Pursuant To 42 U.S.C. §1983 As A Correlate Of Police Crime, Philip M. Stinson, Steven L. Brewer Jr

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

The Civil Rights Act of 1871 (codified at 42 U.S.C. §1983 and commonly referred to as Section 1983) provides a civil remedy for aggrieved persons to sue state actors who under the color of law violate federally protected rights. Since the 1960s there has been an explosion of Section 1983 litigation in the federal courts against police officers and their employing municipal and county agencies. Due to a lack of official statistics and poor methodologies, research has yet to determine how common Section 1983 actions are against the police nationwide. This study examines the relationship between police crime and being …

Introduction To The Special Issue On Hate, Prejudice And Discrimination, Robert J. Cramer, Phyllis Gerstenfeld

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) Welcome to issue 8.4 of the Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research. This issue presents a special initiative addressing hate, prejudice, and discrimination in unique contexts. Articles in this issue reflect a combination of empirical and theoretical work. These articles address a range of timely topics, including, but not limited to, factors influencing perceptions of immigration, demographically based biases in legal decisions, and multi-level framing of aggression and conflict in international settings. Two clear themes emerged to offer new theoretically informed insights into hate, prejudice, and discrimination.

A Comparative Study Of Satisfaction With The Police In The United States And Australia, Mengyan Dai, Xin Jiang

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This study comparatively examines three major models of citizens' satisfaction with the police, using two similar community surveys on policing from Cincinnati, Ohio, USA and Queensland, Australia. It tests the wider applicability of the demographic model, the neighborhood condition model, and the prior contacts with police model and analyzes whether the effects of common determinants on citizens' satisfaction remain the same across the two international samples. Results from a series of comparisons show that there is a substantial amount of similarity across statistical models for Cincinnati and Queensland, suggesting a general framework of citizens' satisfaction with the police that could …

Echoes, Sarah Abigail Adleman

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

When I was sixteen, my mother was killed one evening while running on the bayou behind our house in Houston. The man, who is now on Death Row in Texas, beat, raped, and then strangled her to death. Writer Mary Cappello says of Creative Nonfiction, to compose discursively requires that we turn in the direction of the discourses that have made us who we are rather than start from a place of what we think happened to us in the course of our lives. She goes on further to say, Creative nonfiction appreciates the power of prepositions. Instead of writing …

The Persistent Fear Of Crime In A Safe Metropolitan Area: The Continual Impact Of Social Disorganization, Guillermo Rivas

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

While the association between physical and social disorder on crime have been established (Skogan, 1990), it is less clear how they influence fear of crime. Fear of crime is important to consider given that is can decrease both physical and mental health (Gee & Payne-Sturges, 2004). Utilizing data based on a randomly selected household survey in El Paso County, Texas (N= 1,070) I seek to examine the influence of physical and social disorders and social cohesion on fear of crime. OLS linear regression results illustrate the persistent impact of physical and social disorders regardless of neighborhood characteristics of poverty and …

Predictability Of Delinquency Through Psychosocial And Environmental Variables Across Three Generational Status Groups, Margaret Frances Sabia

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Issues such as the rapid growth of the immigrant youth population and delinquency among adolescents generate public safety concerns among the U.S. population. However, delinquency intervention strategies for immigrant youth in the United States remain scant, which is problematic because these youth face acculturative challenges that increase their risk for maladaptive outcomes. This quantitative, cross-sectional study addressed a research gap regarding the differential influence of risk factors in predicting delinquency across 3 generational statuses. The theoretical framework guiding the study consisted of acculturation theory, the immigrant paradox, and differential association theory. Two research questions were evaluated using a stratified random …

Cyber-Victimization And Delinquency: A General Strain Perspective, Ian D. Greenwood

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study examines juvenile delinquency and cyber-victimization from a general strain perspective. General strain theory provides a model where strain is experienced through the (1) loss of something valued, (2) the presentation of noxious stimuli, or (3) the inability to achieve valued goals. As a coping mechanism for strain, some juveniles react through criminal or delinquent behavior. This thesis predicts that cyber-victimization increases the likelihood of physical fighting, weapon-carrying, and truancy at school. Using the 2013 National Crime Victimization Survey: School Crime Supplement, the hypotheses are analyzed using multivariate logistic regression models that include other known correlates of delinquency. Marginal …

Examining The Strain-Crime Relationship Among African American Women: An Empirical Test Of Agnew's General Strain Theory, Nathan Lowe

Theses and Dissertations--Sociology

Agnew’s (1992; 2006) general strain theory (GST) has become one of the foremost theories to explain crime in contemporary criminology. While it has undergone several empirical tests over the years, there remain many understudied aspects of the theory. The current study addresses some of these aspects by longitudinally exploring the relationship between multiple types of strain and drug and non-drug crime among a sample of African American women.

Data for this study were collected as part of a larger study on how drug use and criminality are related to health disparities, particularly HIV, and service utilization among African American drug-using …

Grandparent Support And Juvenile Delinquent Youth, Anita Marie Taboh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Juvenile delinquency is a social issue which has been shown to have a significant cost to society in a variety of ways which include community safety, the cost of arrest, charges, and court processes, as well as the damage done in families and to the youth through the label of juvenile delinquent or Person in Need of Supervision (PINs). One important area in treatment and discharge planning for youth designated as either juvenile delinquent or Persons in Need of Supervision is the inclusion of supports to help youth change the trajectory from these behaviors into more socially acceptable activities and …